Locker rooms, like military barracks, are one of the last refuges for undisguised, unapologetic homophobia. Something about the intensely macho, testerone soaked environment brings it out in spades. There is still a misperception that being gay is not “manly,” and these guys have staked their whole lives and personas on being perceived as manly men.
Gay are making progress- that doesn’t mean Tim Hardaway is making progress. He’s probably felt this way for decades and just happened to say so now.
The humour of the anti-gay in locker rooms sentiment always gets me. So, homosexuals are about 10 to 15% of the population. That mean that if you have a team of 30 guys, you have at least three gay guys on the team (statistically speaking). I realize athletes might not be the brightest bulbs on the tree, but I ike to think most people realize that there are gay people everywhere in their everyday lives, and it isn’t making the slightest bit of difference - any guy who has hung around and showered in locker rooms has been in there with gay guys. Guaranteed. And they didn’t get a dick up their bums every time they turned around.
Or is it just the looking that gets guys? That they can’t stand the thought of another guy looking at them and having sexy thoughts? Well, welcome to the world of women, where you regularly feel like a pair of walking breasts. No sympathy here for that, either.
So here is something I don’t understand; why is it called “homophobia”? Hatred for a different colour then yourself is “racism”. Is it because “sexism” was already taken? Why does it have “phobia” at then end which could give the stupidity a sense of legitimacy. Its not stupid or wrong to be afraid of enclosed spaces, claustrophobia. Is this just a case of the conservative media trying to brainwash us?
I’m sorry, did your boobs say something?
Yeah–I knew a guy who spent his high school years beating up and making fun of The Gays, and then at a wild party in his senior year he drank a bit too much and ended up making out with a dude in a hot tub…
On video.
Which one? The one who grew up in an extremely homophobic social context, or the one who grew up in an even more homophobic social context earlier? Keep in mind that both these dudes–LeBron James especially–lived their young lives as Basketball Gods and were celebrated 24/7 for their masculinity. Neither one was ever in much of a position to learn the facts about homosexuality. Open conformity to nontraditional gender/sexuality status was probably never something they were exposed to in their personal lives.
Ironically, this sounds like just about the best place for a gay fantasy.
I don’t know if it’s really that simple. Almost a full third of American adults are overweight, but do you expect to see ten overweight people on an NBA team? Pro basketball doesn’t filter out homosexuality by definition like it does obesity, but it’s an institution that historically discourages homosexuality (on the lowest levels, at least) and also may not be particularly appealing to many homosexual men (if only because of the rampant homophobia). Statistics are good and fine, but they break down when you get into situations dealing with grossly non-representative groups like NBA teams. You could be right anyway, of course. But I think NBA teams only have 12-15 players anyway.
This is an excellent point.
That would be Shavlik Randolph. His attitudes are rooted in fundamentalist Christianity.
Same with those who called for an end to rock and roll in the 50s and decried it as “nigger music” (that’s a quote I saw in a documentary a couple of months ago; I think it was some government official from Alabama). Doesn’t make it right.
As a gay man, I agree strongly. Many straight people hate gays, but don’t say it in public.
So often straight people who don’t hate gays ask me, isn’t getting better for gays kevja?
Yeah in some ways. But Hardaway, imho, unfortunately speaks for many, in and out of sports.
But he probably hates hermaphrodites too.
And hey, give him credit for his apology not being phony either- he said “I shoudn’t have SAID that- sorry”- not sorry for feeling that way, or I didn’t mean it like that, or sorry if I offended anyone- just sorry I SAID that.
I’ve heard it said recently that sports is a sort of proving grounds for tolerance. This had never occurred to me, but I think there’s some truth to it, i.e., once you have someone–black, gay, or whatever–succeed in a professional sport and become a role model for the younger generation, it greatly accelerates the acceptance of that person’s group in society at large.
Hardaway may actually be helping underscore this point by being the exception that proves the rule, in that his words are evidence that there is still plenty of resistance to tolerance of homosexuality in the NBA (as opposed to everyone uniformly saying what they know the public wants to hear, but not actually believe it). At the same time, Amaechi and all the other ballers who have spoken up so say that they would have no problem with gay teammates must be spurring progress quite a bit.
I read where approx. ten percent are gay. Also that about 10 % are left handed. No coincidence ,god is making it easy for you to pick them out.Thanks God.
I hate rain. It shouldn’t be allowed and I don’t like it.
I don’t think either Hardaway or myself are going to be happy living here on Earth.
Cyn, who got rained on a lot last week.
I hope this guys gets caught buying Girl on Girl porn, and has to explain himself.
I caught this quote from Shaquille O’Neal:
Good for Shaq.
How far away are we from hearing about the male prostitutes he picks up regularly?
At first I mis-read Hardaway’s statement as saying, “I shouldn’t be in the world, in the United States” and I thought, “Good for him, for realizing how rotten his homophobia is.”
(Maybe homophobia is the right word - they’re scared of getting Teh Gay on them.)
Interesting point, fetus. You could probably do a thesis on that - “Do professional sports self-select against homosexuality?” I honestly don’t know if they do or not, but I suspect there are a whole lot of closeted athletes out there.
You’re probably right. I’d be curious to see how close the percentage would be to that of outside society.